Composite floor and deck covering construction



Nov. 27, 1956 H. K. PATCH ErAL 2,771,824

I COMPOSITE FLOOR AND DECK COVERING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 9, 1950 INVENTRS HTTORNEY United States Patent COIWPOSITE FLOOR AND DECK COVERING CONSTRUCTION Harold K. Patch, Hermosa Beach, and Richard J. Grundy,

San Carlos, Calif., assignors to Crossieid Products Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Caliomla Application March 9, 1950, Serial No. 148,629

9 Claims. (Cl. 94-3) Our present invention relates to a composite ioor and deck covering construction and more particularly to a permanent, substantially monolithic floor and deck covering, which is of general use for many purposes, but which is particularly useful as a covering over sub-oors or base supports, which for various reasons may undergo movement and which normally develops stresses in any coating bonded to them throughout the floor area. Suchv stresses may occur in connection with any insecure type of sub-floor such as one made of separate concrete slabs which develop shrinkage and expansion cracks that open and close with temperature changes, and also Wood oors made, for example, by ship-lap, tongue-and-groove, plywood, sheathing, etc., which shrink either from loss of moisture contained at the time of installation or are subject to expansion and contraction caused by absorption of atmospheric moisture and subsequent drying out under conditions of lower humidity. The present invention is also applicable in covering the decks or some iioor portions of ships or other structures where the normal use of the structure is such as may result in relative mechanical movement of portions of the sub-floor, so that any oor covering bonded thereto throughout or at closely spaced points will be subjected to stresses such as are outlined above and may be subject to permanent damage due to cracking, ingress of moisture and the possible freezing of the moisture penetrating through or into the cracks.

The present invention provides a substantially rigid, floating type floor covering construction, which may be formed in situ and which is secured to the sub-oor only at the periphery of a floor area; or, when the iloor is of very large area, the covering may also be secured to the sub-oor additionally only on about 15-foot centers as measured from one another and from the periphery. The floor covering construction in accordance with the present invention is further somewhat resilient as an inwear coat or surface. Other intermediate layers and surfacing Ilayers may be provided as hereinafter particularly.,

set forth. The under layer of felt is free to move with respect to the sub-iloor or base support except at the pe- ICC 2 pended claims, all when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a somewhat diagrammatic view on an enlarged scale illustrating a floor construction and a` finished edge portion or base board formed therewith in accordance with the present invention, the view being substantially in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in perspective and with parts of the several layers progressively broken away to show the detailed construction in accordance with a preferred form of the present invention, the layers being severally illustrated on an enlarged scale in respect to actual installations;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view substantially in vertical section on theline 3 3 of Fig. 2 and on a further enlarged scale illustrating the construction in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view in perspective illustrating the manner in which pieces of felt are lapped together when the felt layer is to be made of more than one piece; and

Fig. 5 is a view on a very small scale illustrating the manner in which the liooring construction of the present invention is secured to the base support at the periphery and at spaced points inside the periphery.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated in Figs. l, 2 and 3 at 10 abase support or subfloor, which may be of wood, concrete slabs, metal or any other desired construction. As stated hereinabove, while the invention is peculiarly useful where this base support is of a relatively insecure material, the construction of the present invention is applicable and effective in use over a rigid and secure type of sub-floor, even through some of the features thereof may not be required on such a rigid support and even though other types of Hoor coverings may be adequate or relatively satisfactory on such rigid sub-oor constructions. There is also shown in Fig. l at 11 a vertical wall portion contiguous with the base support 10, to illustrate the application of the construction of the present invention to a juncture of a oor and a side wall.

The bottom-most layer of a iioor construction in accordance with the present invention, is generally indicated at 12, this layer comprising a layer of felt, which is pervious to water and air and which in practice may consist of an asphalt impregnated asbestos felt perforated at desired intervals, for example on about 1/2-inch centers, with line holes 13. Felt of this kind, weighing about l5 pounds per 100 square feet, may be purchased on the open market and has been found satisfactory for the present purposes. This particular weight of felt is not critical, however. The purpose of the perforations which are initially formed in the felt ylayer is to permit the felt of this layer to be placed evenly and smoothly upon a case, one strip shown at 14, Fig. 4, may be lapped a sub-- stantial distance as about two inches, over another strip 15 as shown, for example, at 16, and the two strips cemented together by any suitable adhesive. For this' purpose a commercially available adhesive, such as a solriphery and, in the event of use covering large areas, f

additionally only at points spaced a substantial distance, as fifteen feet, apart as hereinabove described so as to permit relative movement of parts of sub-floor or base support without injury to the oor or deck covering construction of the present invention.

Other features and objects of the present invention will t vent-containing or cut-back rubber adhesive which is irreversible in its setting characteristics has been found eminently satisfactory although the use of this type of adhesive as against some other type is not a necessaryor L critical part of the present invention.

appear from the following description of a specific embodiment thereof, and will be pointed out in the aparea -which is cemented dowumay lbe of any desired The felt layer `formed of ione or more pieces cemented together as aforesaid and covering the entire floor area is cemented to the base support 10 a-t the periphery as indicated by the stippled margin 17, Fig. 5. This marginal width, for example, sueltas. four inches.. In the event.v

cured to the sub-support 1,0 @at its peripheral` portions.

'as aforesaid at distances of'notmore than about :fifteen Ifeet apart, whichever maybe the limit-ing factor, -no further securing of the felt layer to the sub-support may be needed. However, in larger door or deck areas, it may be necessary, in-addition to the securing of the marginal portions as shown at 17, |Fig. 5, to. secure points or small ears of the felt layer 12 on about .fifteen foot lcenters down to the base .support lil as shown for example .at 1'8, Fig; 5. In cernenting the felt layer to the base support, the same -type of adhesive may be used as is used in cementing one striprof felt t-oy another as described above in connection with Fig. 4.

The purpose of the above construction is to provide a free-floating surface area between the points of attachment of the feltflayer 12 to the base support 10, so. that Irelative movement of parts :of the baseA support beneath the freeoating area will not damage the substantially rigidoo-r construction according to the presen-t invention. This in practice effectively prevents the possibility of cracks or checksoccurring in the floor construction of this invention due to relative movement ofV parts of the base support.

After the felt layer 12 has been placed and secured in. position asH aforesaid, a thincoatng is applied there` over. This. coatinghwhich.y is shown at 19, is preferably one havingacomposition, Vthe essential active ingredients of which are rubber` latex, vulcanizing constituents for said rubber latex and a hydraulic cement such as an aluminous cement or in some cases an ordinary Portland cement. This coating is applied as a paste containingmore or less water, which is combined during the drying. of this coating with the hydraulic cement. The coating 19 may be applied with a trowel or in any other suitablemanner; andris preferably scraped down to a thickness inthe order of `magnitude of about /l inch. This coatingpmay be applied as one or more coats, but usually one coat will be found adequate.

In the present; application and the. claims, thereof the term rubber is frequently used.. This term as used herein is, intended to include. not` only natural -rubber, but also anyarticial or synthetic rubber. For certain purposes some of the synthetic rubbers may be preferable to natural rubber by reason of their resistance to chemical attack, for exampley by oils and grcases. Of theseV synthetic rubbers a polymerized chlorine derivative of 1,3-butadiene, whichv is sold under the trademark naine- Neoprene is presently preferred. The term latex is intended to meanan aqueous dispersion ofv any rnbber as hereindefined; As such, therefore, these terms are used in their; broadest conventional sense-throughout the presentespecicationand claims.

Instatingi the; composition. of certain of the layers herein the term vulcanizing constituents for-the rubber-- orfor rubben latex; is used. By this term is-meant any conventional, or other vulcanizing agents., and/or vul temperatures for thisA chemical reaction, and the vul" car1,izi,i 1g.agents;i and/.or acceleratorsV should: be-l chosen accordingly:

The materiali. of theY thin'. layer- 19: may penetratelto some ,extent into .they felt itself in amanner not particuas used. herein in connection with rubber.l

Any4 compositions or com-- 4 perforations 13 as illustrated on an enlarged, scale-in Fig. 3 at 20. This penetration of the material of the layer 19, however, is such by reason of the consistency of the felt material of this layer as applied and by reason of the very small diameter of the holes 13, that the material of the layer 19 will not pass through the felt layer 12 in sufficient amount so as to cement thel felt layer 12 to the base support 10 evenl at or near any of the holes 13. Thus the felt layer is retained free tomovef with respect to the support 10 except as it is secured thereto as hereinabove described in connection` wit Fig. 5.

The hydraulic cement in the composition 19 Aispresent in an amount suiiicient substantially to dehydrate the latex used and thereby toprovide a relatively rigid composition as nally dried and/ or cured. This layer, therefore, serves to a large extent to close up the perforations or holes 13 in the feit layer and serves to cement the. felt layer to subsequent layers applied above the layer 19. It is not, however, relied upon per se as. atotal Waterproofng for the felt layer in installations where. suchwater-proofing is desirable or necessary.

The next layer to be applied, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, is a neat rubber layer 21 which serves the purpose of providing absolute water-proofing characteristics where the oor constructionY maybe subjected to more or less water. This layer is composed of a rubber composition usually made up by mixing a suitable rubber latex, the viscosity of which has been" increased to substantially the consistency of mayonnaise, and suitable vulcanizing constituents for the rubber of this layer. This layer may be applied as two or more coats, for example with a trowel, with the application of the second or each subsequent coat delayed until the rst or previously applied coat has dried sufficiently. to permit foot traflic Without being picked up by the foot.

As aforesaid, the purpose. of this layer is basically to providewater-proof` characteristics and as such to close any pinholes which may have been left through the layer 19'or areas left uncovered" through negligence of' the personnel` applying the layer 19 in practice.

It isl usually preferred that this layer 21 extend up any side walls contiguous to the oor areaV being covered asv indicated at 22, and further that the corner portions between-the side walls and door area be reinforced` by. suitable textile type material such as burlap as indicated.` at-v 23. When such reinforcing is used, the burlap or othertextile material in the form of strpsor bands may be completely impregnated with the material of the layer. 21 before or as a result of its being placed in the posi# tion shown in Fig: 1. In this` way'the corner portionsl. are adequately reinforced mechanically by the. fabric` layer-23- and against water penetration by the rubber compositionlayer-22. In practiceA this neat rubber layer` ormembrane may be applied-in atotal thicknessofabout' 1/32 inch andfina manner so that the portion' 22 extend; inggup the side wallsgis'applied'to aheight'oFabout. four to six inches; Ordinarily this-layer. 21 is applied'Y as' two coats, althoughthis number is notcriticaland" mayj be one or-rnore than two.

Thenext layer above the neat rubber layer 21 is a Wear'coat and is indicated at 2.4. This layer may have ther same composition. as the layer or coat 19 withtlie addition, however, of aA suitable mineral ller or aggregate; preferably a hard igneous rock, such as andesite, havingagrain'or particle size of about 16to about 6` mesh; This wear coat is appliedover the entire floor,` or deck area up' to and in contact with any surrounding, wall: It may havea thicknessof about l/s tov about A inch depending upon the service. requirementsi. c thc',A purposesfor which the-flooristo.be used; The layer 24'- maybe appliedinoneA or morey coats as may bede'- larly yillitstlatediy and* also:r penetrates somewhat.z intox theJ 7.5,'

sirable-asaforesaid In the-event that the neatfrubben'layer '-21 i is extendd up a side wall, as shown at 22, this layer 24 is also normally extended up over the neat rubber layer asindicated at 25 to form a finish portion, equivalent to a baseboard. As such, it protects the neat rubber layer from damage due to sunlight or otherwise when the oor area is likely to be exposed to such damage. It also serves to provide a substantially rigid, monolithic floor coating calculated to take any wear to which the construction may be subjected in its use, i. e. not only foot trac,

but also movement thereover of any rolling vehicles such` as hand trucks in commercial installations, the support of furniture or other articles which may be placed upon the oor construction, and for any general purpose.

In the event that the construction in accordance with the present invention is to be used in installations where the utmost in water-proofing is not essential, for example indoors, it may in some instances be permissible to omit the neat rubber layer shown at 21 and in effect to combine the layers 19 and 24 as a single layer or wear coat, these layers having similar composition as aforesaid. In such instances the composite layer may ory may not be extended up the side walls as shown in Fig. 1 in accordance with the desires of the users.

In the actual installation of the side wall construction, it is conventional to place masking tape along the wall 11 at a predetermined distance from the floor, so that when the layers 22 and 25 or merely the layer 25 is placed up the side walls an even or uniform base line may be established. This, however, is a detail of the actual installation which per se forms no part of the present invention.

In many installations the construction as described thus far may be considered complete and used as such. In some instances, however, where it is desired to have a somewhat smoother surface than is usually available from the construction as thus far described, a finish layer shown at 26 is applied above the layer 24. This layer 26 is preferably of the same composition as the wear coat or layer 24, with the exception that thel solid filler or mineral aggregate used should be of a smaller particle size, for example about 75 to about 200 mesh. If desired, this nish layer may in addition have intermixed therewith some suitable organic dye or inorganic pigment to give a desired color to the door construction. The use of such coloring is, however, no necessary part of the present invention, so that it is mentioned merely for completeness of description.

It will be noted from the description given that all the layers 19, 21, 24 and 26 are compounded of rubber or rubber latex. As such, each layer will weld to the contiguous layers upon the drying or maturing of the oor construction as a whole, so as to produce in effect a substantially rigid, monolithic construction, without cracks or seams.

Under many conditions the construction as described to this point is complete. In some installations, however, particularly where it is desirable that the surface be relatively dust-proof and cleaning facilitated to a maximum extent, a plastic sealing coat may be applied above the layer 26 as shown for example at 27. This sealing coat may be a vinyl resin dispersion or solution in any suitable liquid medium and applied either with a trowel, preferably set on edge, or with a brush, whichever is the more convenient. It will be understood that this vinyl sealer layer is unnecessary insofar as the serviceability of the ooring construction is concerned, and as such is a possible modification in this case.

While we have shown and described but one principal embodiment of the invention and have suggested and taught certain modifications thereof for certain somewhat limited uses and further have taught the essential and nonessential character of the several layers used in the construction in accordance with this invention, many equivalents of the construction herein specifically taught will suggest themselves tothose skilled in the Atti-t from the of the prior art permits.

What is claimed is:

1. A permanent, substantially monolithic floorhand deck covering for use on a base support which is subject to relative movement of different portions thereof,"

said covering being formed and applied in situ, comprising a base support which may be subject to relative movement as between different portions thereof; a supporting layer of airand liquid-pervious felt, means adhesively cementing said supporting felt layer to said base support at the periphery of said felt layerand additionally only at spots arranged on about 15 foot centers as measured from one another and from `said periphery; a relatively thin coating applied as a plastic mass over said felt layer and having a composition, the essential active ingredients of which are rubber latex, vulcanizing constituents for said rubber latex, and an hydraulic cement; a relatively thicker layer of a rubber composition applied as a plastic mass over said thin coating and being substantially in' tegrally bonded thereto throughout the entire surface to be covered, said relatively thicker layer having a composition, the essential active ingredients of which consist of rubber in the form of a latex andvulcanizing constituents for the rubber of this layer, and this relatively thicker layer serving to render the covering impervious to water; and a wear coat above and substantially integrally bonded to said relatively thicker layer, said wear coat being applied as a plastic mass and having a composition, the essential active ingredients of which consist of a rubber latex, vulcanizing constituents therefor, an hydraulic cement, and a solid mineral aggregate ller; whereby to provide a substantially rigid, oating floor covering of seamless monolithic character, which will be substantially unaffected by such relative movement of portions of the base support as may occur in normal use. v

2. A floor and deck covering in accordance with claim l, wherein the covering has a total area of not over about 250 square feet, and in which said layer of felt is adhesively cemented to said base support solely around its periphery and is otherwise free thereof to permit relative movement of portions of said base support without injury to said covering.

3. A floor and deck covering in accordance with claim l, wherein said layer of felt is a layer composed of an asphalt-impregnated asbestos felt having a plurality of holes therethrough to bleed any air trapped between said felt layer and said base support as said felt is laid, said holes being sufciently small so that material subsequently applied as a plastic mass to form a layer above the felt layer will not penetrate through the felt layer in suicient amount to cause said felt layer to be adhesively bonded to said base support by the material so passing through the holes in the felt layer.

4. A permanent, substantially monolithic floor and deck covering for use on a base support which is subject to relative movement of different portions thereof, said covering being formed and applied in situ, comprising a base support which may be subject to relative movement as between different portions thereof; a supporting layer of airand liquid-pervious felt, means adhesively cementing said supporting felt layer to said base support at the periphery of said felt layer and additionally only at spots arranged on about 15 foot centers as measured from one another and from said periphery; and a wear coat above and bonded to said felt layer, said wear coat being applied as a plastic m-ass and having a composition, the essential active ingredients of which consist of a rubber latex, vulcanizing constituents therefor, an hydraulic cement, and a solid mineral aggregate ller; whereby to provide. a. ,substantially rigid, floating door. covering, of seamless monolithiccharacter, which will1 .besubstantiallyI unatctedby such relative :movement of portionsof the Base support as may occur in normaluse.

5. A oor and deck covering in accordance ywith claim 4, comprising in addition, a finish layer above. and substantially-integrally bonded to said `Wear coat, saidiinish layer havingsubstantially the same composition. as said wear coat, but with said solid mineralaggregate filler present in particles of smaller size than the particles thereoffin said wear coat;

'6J A" permanent, substantially monolithic floor and decl covering for use on a base vsupport which is subject to relative movement of different portions thereof, sai'dcovering being formed and applied in situ, comprisi'nga base support whichmay be subject to-relative movenientas betweendifferent portions thereof; a supporting layer of airand liquid-perviousfelt, means adhesively cementing said supportingfelt layer to said basesupport at'fthe periphery of said felt. layer and additionally only atv spots arranged on about 1'5 foot: centers as measured from one another and from said periphery; a wear coat above and bonded to said felt layer, said wear coat being applied as a plastic mass and having a composition, the essential active ingredients'of which consist of a rubber latex, vulcanizing `constituents therefor, van hydraulic cement, and a solid mineral aggregate filler; and at least one intermediate layer including, rubber latex as an essen ti'al active ingredient and disposed between said felt layer and said wear coat and adhesively bonded by the latex content thereofl to both andserving to eiect substantial water-proofing of the entire oor covering, Wherebyto provide a substantially rigid,` fioating oor covering of seamless monolithic character, which will be substantially unatected'by such relative movement of portions of the base. support'as may occur in normal use.

7. A floor and deck covering in accordance with claim 1, for use in covering a oor area bounded by at least one vertical wall, comprising in addition, a portion of and integral with said relatively thicker layer of rubber composition extending a predetermined distance up said vertical wall, and an outer layer portion of and integral with said wear coat extending up said wall to cover and completely, .tor enclose ther-rubber; layery so -extending;up; said=walli as. aforesaid, so.' as@ to; form; at tinished basel portioniflextending, integrally from said floor coveringra.- predetermined. distance -f-up.said'wa1l.Vv

8. A oorandgdeck, covering inaccordance: -with claimi l,- comprisinglin additionga iinishwlayer above and sub-1 stantiallyintegrallybonded tosaid wear coat, said finishlayer.v having4 substantially the samecomposition as. said: Wear, coat,Y but with saidf,y solid mineral aggregate filler present in` particlesv ot, smallersizethan the, particles thereof in said wear coat,l saidmineral aggregate ller: in saidwear coatlhaving: a particle size from about 16; to about mesh and, in said nishcoat having a particle sizeffrom about; to about.200 mesh'.`

9. A oor and deck covering inaccordancewith claim: 4, comprisingkin-addition, aiinish layer aboveandfsubf stantially integrally. bonded,v to said. WearA coat, said finish: layerhaving substantially the` same composition as said. wear coat`but, withisaid. solid .mineral aggregate. filler: present inparticlesvof smallerv size than the particles there-v of in. said wear coat', andavinyl. resin sealing coat above said finish layer.

VReferences Citedin thele. of this patent UNLTEDVSTATES PATENTS 82,236- 'Mayall Sept. l5, 1868 1,319g8'7'9l Lindley Oct. 28, 1919 1,707,515A Evans- Apr` 2, 1929 1,877,508`-Y Hofery Sept.' 13, 1932 1,968,246 Coleman July 31', 1934" 2,142,463'- Upson June 3, 1939 2,234,058 Murray'y Mar. 4, 1941 2,411,328 MacNab Nov. 19, 1946. 2,432,987 Garner Dec. 23, 1947v 2,605,20@l Benedict et al.' July 29, 1952 FOREIGNI PATENTS 414,767" Great Britain .Aug 13, 1934- 497385" Great Britain Dec. 14 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Concrete,` January 1944,.v pp. 103, 104` 

